Dual Citizenship - Reacquisition of Danish Nationality by Declaration

DUAL CITIZENSHIP - REACQUISITION OF DANISH NATIONALITY BY DECLARATION
On September 1, 2015, the bill amending the Danish Nationality Act came into force.

DANISH NATIONALS WISHING TO ACQUIRE CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP With the new rules, Danish citizens living in Canada can now acquire Canadian citizenship without losing their Danish citizenship.

You do not need to notify the Danish authorities if you acquire Canadian citizenship.

The right to receive Danish pension is not based on nationality. Hence, acquiring Canadian citizenship will not affect your entitlement in this regard. For more information on how to apply for Danish pension from Canada, please click here.

For information on how to obtain Canadian citizenship, please visit the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Please note that neither the Embassy of Denmark in Ottawa nor the Danish consulates in Canada are able to assist regarding Canadian citizenship rules.

FORMER DANISH NATIONALS WISHING TO REACQUIRE DANISH NATIONALITYDanish citizens who lost their Danish nationality by acquiring Canadian citizenship can now reacquire their Danish nationality, provided they fulfil certain requirements. As Canada allows for full access to dual and multiple nationalities, you will not lose your Canadian citizenship by reacquiring your Danish nationality.

Former Danish nationals can apply for reacquisition of Danish nationality by sending a declaration and relevant documentation to the Danish State Administration (Statsforvaltningen). This procedure is available for a five-year period between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2020.

The State Administration has informed that two basic conditions must be fulfilled to reacquire your Danish citizenship under the new rules:

You lost your Danish citizenship because you, or your parents while you were a minor, applied for and acquired the citizenship of another country, for example Canada.

You have not been sentenced to imprisonment during the period from when you lost your Danish citizenship until you send the declaration to the State Administration

NOTE: If you were born outside of Denmark you lose your Danish citizenship at the age of 22 unless you apply to retain it. If you lost your Danish nationality due to this rule, you cannot reacquire Danish citizenship by declaration. Instead, you need to apply for proof of nationality. You can find more information about that here.

CHILDREN
Your child(ren) can acquire Danish nationality as part of your declaration while they are under 18 and remain unmarried. In order to use this opportunity, you must have legal custody over your child(ren) and the other parent must give his/her consent if he/she also has custody.

For adopted children it is an additional requirement that the adoption is legal under Danish law.

For more information about children, please consult page 2 of the link to the website of the State Administration here (in Danish only).

The State Administration’s standard processing time upon receipt of your declaration at the State Administration is approximately 11 weeks, provided no additional documentation is needed.

For a quick and efficient processing, you must collect all the required documents in the checklist before you submit your application. Failure to submit all the required documents may result in delays or rejection of your declaration.

Please note: If you acquired Canadian citizenship prior to February 2012, your certificate is considered commemorative and therefore does not serve as proof of citizenship on its own. You must also present a copy of your citizenship card. More information available here.

Please note that it is your responsibility to consult the checklist in the declaration form before submitting your application. Neither the Embassy of Denmark in Canada nor the Danish consulates can be held responsible for any problems you may incur as a result of missing documents.

Should the State Administration find that there is missing documentation in your application, a request for further information may be forwarded to the Embassy. In such cases the hourly fee for personal assistance must be paid to the Embassy, in accordance with our fee schedule.

Step 3: Submit the Applicationand Pay the Processing Fee

You can send the declaration directly to the State Administration in Denmark at the following address:

Statsforvaltningen
Storetorv 10
DK-6200 Aabenraa
Denmark

Payment of the non-refundable processing fee of DKK 1100 is a requirement for an admissible application. The payment must be made directly to the State Administration by using the online payment portal (in Danish only). You can pay by using your Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card.

Alternatively, you can submit your declaration through the Danish Embassy or one of our consulates in Canada. Please note that if you choose to submit your declaration this way, there is an additional handling fee payable to the Danish Embassy or the consulate. The handling fee must be paid in the form of a certified cheque or money order issued to the hand-in mission, or in cash. The fee schedule can be found here.

The handling fee covers the Embassy or Consulate’s involvement in the following steps:

Reception of application form and possible supporting documents. Embassy or consulate signature and date of reception on the application form. The Embassy and consulates are not responsible for checking contents.

If Apostille or legalization is required: Apostille/legalization of relevant documents charging the relevant, separate fee. This does not apply to official Canadian documents.

Hand out of receipt.

Shipment to the State Administration.

Reception of the decision from the State Administration.

Hand out to client or shipment to client by courier/registered mail according to agreement and paid for by client.

If case processing is required, e.g. if documents are missing or the State Administration has additional questions to the client, an additional hourly fee shall be charged as stated in the fee schedule mentioned above.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONSPlease contact the State Administration directly.